mac won't boot into OS

hey guys
i have an emac g4
its my cousins computer and he wants me to try to fix it.
the emac starts up as normal.......the spinnin wheel loads correctly and then enters the mac os..........i wait for the bar to finish loading and when tats done it just goes nowhere
all i get is the background picture....the mouse moves fine but nothing loads?!!?!
my cousin goes he "locked the hard drive"?
is there such thing if so how can i resovle this issue?
or issit any other problems?
any input would be a great help!
thanks

oh and i think it's running pather

annoyin said:

hey guys
i have an emac g4
its my cousins computer and he wants me to try to fix it.
the emac starts up as normal.......the spinnin wheel loads correctly and then enters the mac os..........i wait for the bar to finish loading and when tats done it just goes nowhere
all i get is the background picture....the mouse moves fine but nothing loads?!!?!
my cousin goes he "locked the hard drive"?
is there such thing if so how can i resovle this issue?
or issit any other problems?
any input would be a great help!
thanks

oh and i think it's running pather

Click to expand...

First thing to do is an Archive Install if that doesn't work then Erase and Install and if that doesn't work replace the hard drive and do another Erase and Install. Finally if that doesn't work trash it and buy a new one or if its is under warranty send it for repair/replacement. That being said it will probably be fixed after the Archive and Install.

Try Starting up holding the shift key down.


GOOD LUCK!

benjamindaines said:

First thing to do is an Archive Install if that doesn't work then Erase and Install and if that doesn't work replace the hard drive and do another Erase and Install. Finally if that doesn't work trash it and buy a new one or if its is under warranty send it for repair/replacement. That being said it will probably be fixed after the Archive and Install.

Click to expand...

Any type of reinstall, be it a new, clean install or an archive and install should be the last thing you want to do. It is an extreme measure, and is not necessary a great deal of the time.


First, try to boot up holding the shift key.

If that doesn't work, try booting from a restore/install CD...just put in the CD and restart while holding down the "C" key.

If it boots from the CD, then run Disk Repair from the Disk Utility and then restart from the HD.

If you still cannot boot from the HD, try running the Hardware Test CD if you have one.

You can also try resetting the PRAM.

If you are able to boot into the OS, the first thing you want to do is run a Permissions Repair from the Disk Utility.

If none of these things work, then you may want to consider an Archive and Install. :black:

Is the computer still under warranty? If so, bring it in to your nearest apple store!!!

D3v1L80Y said:

Any type of reinstall, be it a new, clean install or an archive and install should be the last thing you want to do. It is an extreme measure, and is not necessary a great deal of the time.


First, try to boot up holding the shift key.

If that doesn't work, try booting from a restore/install CD...just put in the CD and restart while holding down the "C" key.

If it boots from the CD, then run Disk Repair from the Disk Utility and then restart from the HD.

If you still cannot boot from the HD, try running the Hardware Test CD if you have one.

You can also try resetting the PRAM.

If you are able to boot into the OS, the first thing you want to do is run a Permissions Repair from the Disk Utility.

If none of these things work, then you may want to consider an Archive and Install. :black:

Click to expand...

When i had a problem like this archive and install was the first thing i was told to do.

benjamindaines said:

When i had a problem like this archive and install was the first thing i was told to do.

Click to expand...

It will work most of the time, but it really isn't necessary most of the time.
I'm not sure who suggested that to you, but it is a rather extreme "troubleshooting" technique.

I think that most people who are advocates for this method are switchers who are used to the Windows "trash and burn" repair method...hehe. :black: There are quite a few things in Windows where the only way to fix it is to uninstall/reinstall programs or the entire OS.
Either that, or they are old school Macheads who are familiar with the "clean" install from OS 8 and 9. If you are not familiar with this, it did not reinstall the OS, but rather just placed a new System folder on the HD. It kept your existing one and just renamed it. That way, the OS could boot like new and you could still access your previous System folder to diagnose for problems.


In my opinion and experience with Mac OS X, it is just not necessary to reinstall the OS to repair every little problem that could crop up. I have had several issues with boot problems and the steps I have suggested have always fixed the issue. I have never had to reinstall the OS on an OS X machine.

sorry, any type of reinstalling is ALWAYS the last option.
maybe he messed with some of the permissions for access to the hd or system folder. if none of the above works, did he install any new hardware or software? if you did, delete them if you can boot into safe boot mode.

hey guys
thanks for the replys first of all
yeah he did something with the permissions for access to the hd or system folder.
what do i do?

Are you able to boot into single user mode. If I remember correctly, reboot the system and then hold down the s key. It should get you tpo single user mode. Once there you should be able to check the permissons on the system folderdirectory (/). I am not near my system now, but I believe you if you do a ls -ld /. You should see something like the following drwxrwxr-t 36 root admin 1224 28 Jun 14:34 /.

If you don't see anything that, then he changed the permissions on the root (/) directory/folder. You will need to change it.